Comeback Kids: Gillingham Home

Another match, another late Rovers comeback win and if we’re being honest, it’s becoming too easy only giving our opponents a one goal lead.

I was just glad to get back to some proper football after having to endure the international break, Harry Redknapp described it best as a wasted fortnight. fairness, that’s a fairly harsh way of putting it, I managed to get one or two things done. Last weekend I went out to Twerton Park to watch Bath City play Eastbourne Borough. Unfortunately I got in eight minutes late because First Bus Bristol are, it would seem, nearly as bad as England. In missing those first eight minutes I saw a 0-0 draw and the rest of the crowd saw a 1-1 draw. Gutter!

I also had my first application for a first team managers job turned down by York City. Apparently my wealth of experience from my time working in a supermarket wasn’t suitable, neither was my Football Manager Career in which I have taken both Rovers to the championship and Forest Green to the Football League. I’m not too disappointed at the rejection, I only applied to make sure that it wasn’t Darrell Clarke heading up North so in truth I was completely successful.

We started against Gillingham in a 3-5-2 formation, it was always likely to be a tough game against one of our bogey sides and the Gills are a very big and physical team. Scott Wagstaff looked like a man on a mission and he got a lot of stick from the Thatchers End. Bradley Dack is another extremely good footballer and his movement and speed caused us a few problems over the course of the match. We had the better of a slow and somewhat drab first half, Brown should have scored after a good ball from Lines, Taylor flashed a shot into the side netting and Taylor found Lines in space but he hit his shot straight at Bond. The visitors had arguably the best chance of the half when Kell Roos spilled a ball and Wagstaff came close to a tap in. Probably the most entertaining event in the first half was when three Gillingham fans struggled to put up a flag in the away end, they gave up, got an ironic cheer from the home fans and some stewards put it up for them.

We started the second half strongly and for the majority of it there only looked like being one winner. Jonathan Bond was in inspired form in goal for Gillingham. Colkett hit a free-kick directly at him before a similar free kick from lines forced an even better save, Lee Brown then drove a shot in and Bond was again on hand to turn it over the bar. On the 63rd minute, against the run of play, Gillingham took the lead through Josh Wright. It was a well worked goal, a long throw-in, flicked to the back post and well finished by Wright but it was a poor goal to concede. I’m sure that’s exactly what Gillingham will have thought about our leveler, Lines picks up the ball in his own half, plays a one two with Taylor and evades two challenges before slotting past Bond. It was like something out of Forest Gump, he ran and ran and ran!

After that the crowd was up, five minutes to go, we’d been the better team and the Gills looked deflated. We felt it was coming and in injury time, Ellis Harrison duly obliged, finishing Montano’s ball at the back post to take the roof off of the Thatchers End. That was the most chaotic goal celebration I’ve been involved in since Lee Browns strike on the 7th May, although it was still nowhere near as good as that.

With that Three points we move up to 8th in the League One table with a game in hand over the teams above us which is a fantastic position to be in. There’s a real belief about the place at the moment that, even if we go a goal behind we can win games and at the moment that’s exactly what we’re doing! On Tuesday we travel to Milton Keynes to face M.K. Dons. It will be another big test but I’m looking forward to it and I don’t think there’s any reason why we can’t pick up another three points. See you there, UTG!